Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Alternatively, scripts can also be attached to empty GameObjects that serve no
other function but to hold scripts. So, for instance, an empty GameObject called
Script Holder could be created in a scene, and then all the scripts that were in
effect in the scene (or most of them anyway) would be attached to that object.
This has several benefits; for instance, if someone else picks up the project, they
know right where to go to find out what the functionality of the game was.
My software developer colleagues always use this sort of mechanism; they are
good at reading code and how code interacts with each other and find this
methodology much, much faster. For the beginner though, this can be tough.
The only way to know if an object is being affected by a script is to read through
the scripts; trying to discern those tea leaves can be a daunting task. Another
important benefit is this method can often keep prefabs intact. When a script
is hung off a prefab, it breaks it, or simply makes it so it's not tied to the original
any longer. By keeping the scripts elsewhere, these prefabs can be maintained,
which can make the asset update game a little easier.
For us, in this topic, we will be using a little bit of both methods. It really is
easiest to get started by simply dropping a script on the object you want
affected; but in the long run, the script holder that contains scripts does allow
for some real benefits.
A Note about This Approach
Through the course of these scripting tutorials, we will be looking at concepts
realized through specific project-based efforts. Sometimes, this means we
won't be using the absolutely most efficient method on our first pass since
sometimes the most efficient methods are harder to understand. This means
that sometimes we'll create a script and then later go back and optimize our
approach as we learn more.
Tools for Scripts
The following section describes some tools that are available for use with scripts.
Editors
Unity itself does not edit scripts. Although you can view the contents of
a script within Unity, the actual editing of the asset is done in some other
application. On a Mac the included editor is Unitron. On the PC the included
editor is UniSciTE. There are many other editors that could be used; really any
basic text editor (Notepad for instance) can be used to edit scripts as they are
just basic text. Some of the more sophisticated script editors (MonoDevelop,
Unity Script Editor, or UnityDevelop) have some very elegant and powerful
functionality built in to assist in scripting.
Both UniSciTE and Unitron “understand” Unity's JavaScript, and thus will
provide some visual clues about the script that is being written. Often this
will include hints as simple as color coding recognized terms and can include
suggestive options as the editor tries to guess what you mean. In these
